Gratitude positive in many ways

Lisa Hopper – wife, mother, account manager for a food company – stays plenty busy.

But she’s thinking about adding a gratitude journal, where she’ll list the things and people she appreciates, to her daily to-do list.

“I do have so much to be thankful for,” the Shelby County, Ala., woman says.

What she might not realize is that counting her blessings could bless her even more.

Recent studies show that routinely saying or listing what you’re grateful for can make you happier, even healthier. Which means it could behoove you to be thankful every day, and not just on holidays.

“I think we need to move past the social pressure that says it’s only acceptable at certain times,” says Mike Robbins, a San Francisco-based motivational speaker and author of “Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation” (Jossey-Bass, 240 pages, $19.95).

As in that mother of all days to be thankful, Thanksgiving Day.

“I love the whole ‘Hold hands and go around the table and say what we’re grateful for,’ ” Robbins says. “But why don’t we do that on April 2 or July 21?”

For centuries, philosophers and religious leaders have talked about the value of being grateful.

Historically, though, psychology researchers have focused more on pathology and mental illness than on practices that create well-being. But that, they say, is changing.

Robert Emmons, a psychology professor at the University of California at Davis, co-authored a three-part, 15-week study showing a 25 percent increase in happiness for participants who regularly listed the things and people they’re grateful for.

Some of the findings were unexpected, the authors say.

“I was especially intrigued by the health-related findings – that people slept better and exercised more if they were keeping gratitude journals,” Emmons says.

“I thought the practice would enhance their moods, but not necessarily give them more energy or improve the quality of sleep.”

Fulfillment comes from appreciation, not achievement, Robbins says. Even our biggest accomplishments are meaningless if we don’t appreciate them, and ourselves, in the process.

“What we’re really after is a sense of appreciation for that effort,” Robbins says.

It appears that others can benefit from your gratefulness, too.

“Does gratitude make people more empathic, compassionate, generous, altruistic? We have evidence that it does,” Emmons says.

The best results from the practice of gratitude stem from routinely writing or reciting what you’re grateful for, researchers say. Just considering yourself a grateful person isn’t enough.

“Psychological research has shown that translating thoughts into concrete language (either oral or written) has advantages over just thinking the thoughts,” Emmons says.

You can’t fake it, either.

“There’s got to be some genuineness or authenticity to it,” Robbins says. “Otherwise, it’s just Pollyanna fluff.”